Slight fall in BSE traded volumes
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday February 11, 2015 18:00
There were 590.8 million shares worth P2.17 billion traded during the year, slightly lower than the 669.5 million shares worth P2.27 billion exchanged during 2013. Most of the trades were generated in the first quarter of 2014 followed by the last quarter of the year.
Letshego traded the largest volumes for a fourth consecutive quarter, making it the most liquid stock on the local bourse. During the fourth quarter, the micro lender exchanged about 39 percent of the total trades followed by Choppies and Turnstar, which traded 17 percent and 15 percent respectively.
Other counters, which traded significant volumes, were the First National Bank of Botswana, Letlole La Rona and Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited.
In a financial review issued Monday, the firm asserted that despite the hurdles the banks faced, most of them posted decent financial results during the year.
According to Motswedi, the Domestic Company Index swung between monthly gains and losses throughout the year with an average gain of 0.4 percent, reaching a six-year high during the fourth quarter. The DCI realised the most negative returns during the first quarter of 2014 while conversely the second quarter was rosier for the domestic board.
Almost 80 percent of the domestic counters closed in the black, reflecting what a good year it was for most of the stocks. Chobe was the second largest gainer following its upbeat results and also the resilience of the US economy, which brought positive sentiments about the global outlook despite woes on other developed economies.
ABC Holdings (ABCH) was among the largest gainers, following the mandatory offer made by Atlas Mara of which almost 100 percent was acquired. Sefalana made a right issue and acquired 12 stores in Namibia during the second half of the year.
Despite the high competition on the property space, especially on the retail and office sectors, the counters had a fantastic year.
They all closed on a positive territory with the exception of New African Properties, though it advanced by 2.4 percent during the fourth quarter.
Letlole, Turnstar, Primetime and RDC Properties had a total return average of about 23 percent, buoyed by their relatively higher dividend yields. Letshego also had a bull run during the year following the announcement that it was granted a provisional banking license in Namibia.
The mixed movements of the large caps kept the domestic board market cap around the P46 billion mark during the quarter, ending the year at P46.2 billion. In 2013, the market cap closed at P43.4 billion. However on a q/q basis, there was a 0.6 percent increase as compared to the third quarter mainly on the rallies of some of the large caps such as Sechaba.
Sechaba was the biggest gainer for the year, pocketing almost 50 percent followed by ABCH and Chobe, which soared 41 percent and 40 percent respectively. Other major gainers were Wilderness, Turnstar and Choppies among others. Discovery Metals became the major loser for the year plummeting by over 70 percent. The Exchange Traded Funds were relatively volatile during the quarter, with Newgold being the only one that ended in the green territory. Bettabeta and Newplat, which was listed during the third quarter, shed 8.5 percent and 10.1 percent respectively.